


So many stories of where I've been and how I got to where I am

by potterbite



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29495625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potterbite/pseuds/potterbite
Summary: Eddie, with some help from Chim and Hen, tells Mr and Mrs Buckley stories of who Buck really is.Title from “The Story” by Brandi Carlile.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 231
Collections: 9-1-1 Tales





	So many stories of where I've been and how I got to where I am

“So, how long have you been working with Evan?”

The question is fired from Mrs. Buckley before any of them sit down, and when Eddie looks up he realizes it was meant for him. Too bad Bobby isn’t here to take over. 

Eddie swallows and takes his seat, meeting her gaze. She’s smiling, but he can’t shake how their presence makes him feel. Wanting to defend Buck to the parents that never saw him. “About two years, m’am.”

Her expression remains unchanged, as if she’s waiting for him to elaborate. He glances at Chim and Hen; they look very gleeful that they’re not the ones being questioned. He narrows his eyes at them before turning back to Buck’s parents.

“The first day I met him, he and I had to remove a bomb from inside a living person,” he says slowly. He doesn’t know what Mr and Mrs Buckley want to hear, but he wants to tell them of all the stories they missed out on. 

Mrs Buckley raises her eyebrows, seemingly surprised, while her husband shows a similar expression. “What happened?” she breathes out. 

Eddie can feel one corner of his mouth going up at the memory. “He kept his cool, and the man survived.” He turns his eyes to Mr Buckley. “The bomb exploded minutes later.” 

Everyone is still quiet, but it feels as if it’s more loaded now; the only sound comes from Chim chewing his gum. 

Eddie decides to continue.

“When all of us had to work last Christmas, he and the Captain’s wife fixed it so all of our families could come here to spend the day with us anyway.” It had been hard enough working that first Christmas after Shannon’s death, so the fact that he got to spend it with Chris anyway made him feel more grateful than words could describe.

“All of our kids and families came here,” Hen intervenes in that warm voice of hers and he locks eyes with her; she’s smiling. “Buck was the one that thought of that, because that’s how he is. Always noticing, and going to great lengths so fix things. That’s also what makes him an excellent firefighter.”

Eddie glances at Mr and Mrs Buckley again; Buck’s mother has tears in her eyes. 

“My son has cerebral palsy.” He’s aware of the others looking at him weirdly now, but he ignores them. Mr Buckley frowns. “Everywhere he goes, that’s always the initial thing people notice.” He smiles again. “Do you know what the first thing Buck said to me when I showed him a picture of Chris? He said, _he’s cute, I love kids_.”

Mr Buckley nods, as if understanding another piece of the puzzle that is the grown up son he never knew, but Eddie plows on.

“When Chris wanted to skateboard, everyone told him he couldn’t do that because of his disorder. Even me.” He drags a hand through his hair. “But not Buck. He came up with a way for my son to ride a skateboard and be just like everyone else for a few minutes.”

“Typical Buck,” Hen says with a wide grin, which then falls slowly off her face to be replaced with a more thoughtful one. “He feels so much all the time, which also makes him take the losses harder.”

Nobody speaks for a few minutes, Mrs Buckley quietly sobbing as her husband rubs a hand up and down her shoulder. 

Then, suddenly, Chim chuckles and everyone looks over. “He’s also kind of smart. During the mudslide we had here recently we found a baby monitor with a crying baby at the other end. He figured out how we could use our own radios to locate the other baby monitor.”

Mrs Buckley clears her throat. “I can tell all of you really cares for Evan, and that means a lot to me.”

Eddie hears a car pulling up and prays it’s Buck and the Cap. He’ll feel restless until he knows Buck has gotten a clean bill of health.

“We do. Very much,” he says truthfully before rising from his chair and heading down the stairs. If it is Buck, Eddie wants to see him with his own eyes and maybe give him a heads up about the parents.

(And if there’s a flutter in his stomach when he sees Buck smile for real for the first time in days, that’s between himself and his stomach. And Buck, if Eddie ever gathers enough nerves to tell him.)

  
  



End file.
